Announced today (30 September), the Transport for London ‘Direct Vision Standard’ proposes a star rating from zero to five for construction and heavy goods vehicles, based on the level of vision the driver has.
Under the plans to be consulted on shortly, the most dangerous ‘off-road’ HGVs – those with zero stars – will be banned from London’s streets by January 2020. Only vehicles achieving three or more stars will be allowed to use the capital’s roads by 2024.
Estimates are that there are currently around 35,000 of the zero star-rated ‘off-road’ HGVs currently operating on London’s roads – and, says the mayor’s office, these were involved in 70% of cyclist fatalities involving HGVs in the last three years. It is this type of vehicle that the mayor has pledged to remove from London’s roads by 2020.
TfL and the wider Greater London Authority group will adopt the new Direct Vision Standard in all future contracts from April 2017. The mayor and TfL will also work with developers and councils to encourage them to do the same, and the mayor will continue pressing the EU to introduce new EU-wide safety standards for HGVs.
Sadiq Khan, mayor of London, said: “I’m determined to ensure the most dangerous zero star-rated lorries are removed from our roads completely by 2020. Our ground-breaking Direct Vision Standard will be the first of its kind in the world, directly addressing the issue of lethal driver blind-spots. I’m also proud that TfL will lead by example and will not use any zero-star lorries in its supply chain from the new financial year.
“By continuing to work closely with industry, using TfL and public sector procurement and announcing our plans now, I’m confident that many of our lorries will now be upgraded well before the ban comes into place.”
Trucks achieving ‘best in class’ standard will be those with features such as low-entry and remodelled cabs to reduce blind spots.
- The mayor’s office says that the proposed enforcement timetable is being announced now, followed by consultation, to give the industry sufficient lead time to upgrade fleets.
It is estimated that 8% of HGVs in London will be zero star-rated by 2020, down from almost one in five today.